Are you positive?

     It's common in today's age to hear of circumstances qualified as positive or negative. Didn't get that raise? That's a negative. Your political favorite is twelve points down in the polls? Another negative. Electric bill over $200 dollars? Probably a negative but if $37 less than a year ago then that's a positive. Prom was a disaster and the evidence is on youtube? Double negative. Bad karma. Yin and Yang are out of whack. Got through lunch without spilling ketchup on your shirt? That's a positive. Home equity exceeds mortgage balance? That's a positive.

    Doing a search of "positive" and "negative" in the bible does not return any hits. But then again, the same can be said for searching the word "trinity." The Doctrine of the Trinity is clearly expressed in the Bible even though the particular term is not used outright. "Positive" and "negative" though might be argued to be interchangeable in the Bible with terms such as "good" or "blessed." That's fine. I would suggest though that incorporating these terms into one's oft-used vocabulary is likely counterproductive despite not being confusing.

    In the humanistic culture that Americans find themselves in, using "positive" and/or "negative" to express one's outlook on anything has the tendency to encourage an analysis of circumstances in the context of one's personal and tiny universe. The examples at the beginning of this article are me-centric in nature, and not situations that cause one to look at the big picture--of God working out all things according to the counsel of His will. While there's nothing wrong with loving oneself, and indeed that is necessary, it's easy to spin off towards self-centeredness if there's an unhealthy preoccupation with self. Interpreting life through the positive and negative lens is much more likely to do that rather than to speak of sovereignty, providence, authority, omnipotence, omniscience, favor, covenant, divine and other like terms that more clearly define our existence.

  Understandably, non-Christians will certainly interpret life's events as positive or negative because their nature dictates such. The Christian that uses those terms though can expect to foment confusion and error, and miss opportunities to declare God's workings in very subtle ways. The giants of the faith--Abraham, Job, David, Noah, Daniel, Joseph, Paul, Peter, Stephen and others, certainly experienced things that outsiders would deem "negative." In God's perfect ways though, their experiences have benefitted us today immeasurably. So was Moses being left for dead in the river "negative?" When David caught glimpse of Goliath did he mutter, "Whoops. He's huge. That's a negative?"Did Paul gain anything watching Stephen get pounded to death? Noah saved the animal kingdom while being a laughing stock to the world. Joseph was a family outcast yet rose to a prominent place in Pharaoh's inner circle and got many people through s famine. Things that seemed negative to them then were certainly mischaracterized once hindsight came into focus. Paul reminds those enduring trials that they are necessary to equip them to comfort others.

   If the Great Depression looks like Happy Days in twenty years how will we rate the 2020s? If the Euro fails how will that be quantified? Things are what they are. God is sovereign. God is providential. We are his witnesses and under rowers. We are not the world's judge and we won't live to be 110 and dunk a basketball the day before we climb into our coffin with a milkshake in one hand and a tank of oxygen in the other. Life is messy. People have problems and inject their problems into our lives while we try to watch football with the iphone on mute. Circumstances that chaff us to no end encircle us with an appetite unappeased. Getting away from the prolific use of "positive" and "negative" might go a long way towards resolving lots of anxiety, agitation, angst, depression, malaise, foolishness and aberrant behaviors.

  Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Let you words be few. God is good but God is not mocked. Walk circumspectly because the days are evil. Be kind, one to another.

Makena - Expensive and Probably Not Necessary

The FDA has approved Makena (17-Hydroxyprogesterone) to prevent preterm labor. It's very expensive and most probably inferior to cheap natural progesterone itself in doing the same thing. Pregnant women crank out a ton of progesterone when pregnant so it stands to reason if progesterone levels were normalized that would be the most beneficial tweaking of that particular component in preventing premature birth. Blood levels and saliva levels of many hormones are available, unfortunately mainstream physicians don't check saliva levels and seldom check blood levels.

The last medicine that tweaked progesterone, medroxyprogesterone (Provera), had all sorts of nasty stuff started happening. In fact Provera carries a category X rating, meaning, bad things will happen to your baby if you take medroxyprogesterone when pregnant.

Women are likely best off supplementing with progesterone topical cream if boosting the levels is warranted. Reducing exposure to xenoestrogens (mimic estrogen) is also warranted. Xenoestrogens include paint, glue, nail polish, hair spray, plastics, sugar, etc. There are many others. Progesterone balances estrogen. Reducing exposure to xenoestrogens helps keep the body in balance.

Makena is first and foremost a cash cow. Don't expect head-to-head trials with progesterone-that would potentially be a cash cow killer.

Bill Clinton Makes a Pretty Good Move

Former President Bill Clinton is now trumpeting the consumption of whole foods while obesity czar Michelle Obama sits idly by with a vastly inferior message. In this video President Clinton discusses his dietary changes of late with Wolf Blitzer, of CNN's Manipulation Room, which have resulted in weight loss and a visible improved appearance of the president. He has cut out most all meats, which has a downside, but his upside changes are excellent. President Clinton has two stents in his coronary arteries and clearly recognized the need to do more if he didn't want his heart condition to deteriorate further.

Vegans can expect a shortage in Coenzyme Q10, zinc and B12. While whey protein is good and may enhance immunity, a little meat is probably good. If it's from a grass-fed source there's a better balance of fat in the meat. Fish is probably good too although with farm-raised fish taking over the industry and mercury being a notorious contaminant who knows what benefit fish is providing nowadays.

Personally, my heart health advice is one of lots of whole foods as President Clinton suggests. Stick with the meat, chicken and fish in modest portions so you don't go to bed crying for having fond memories of such. Consider adding the following supplements in this order, costs permitting, and in the absence of personal physician objections and any contraindications or warnings-- Vitamin D3 (achieve a level of 50 ng/ml), Vitamin K2 (menaquinone), DHA/EPA (fish oil--molecularly distilled), Cataplex B, Cataplex G, a source of iodine/iodide (e.g. kelp powder, MinTran), Coenyme Q10 or preferably ubiquinol and coconut oil. Maintain a good vital capacity. Cheers.

For more detailed information on some of the above supplements click here.

Autism and MMR Vaccine Still Getting Press

You don't have to know much science or be a Rhodes Scholar to realize the press is lying about the vaccine-autism connection. They mostly report there's no connection. British reporter Brian Deer recently ran an article that accused Dr. Andrew Wakefield of orchestrating an elaborate fraud in a 1998 study suggesting autism, gut disease and the MMR vaccine may be related. Here's one typical story one will find when using google news search.

Then the editor of NaturalNews.com runs a story laying out evidence that Wakefield's attack dog Brian Deer is the liar and the press swallows its collective tongue. Here's NaturalNews' Mike Adam's article here. Why run wild with one reporter's story and ignore the counter argument from the other reporter? Surely the vast majority of reporters didn't vet the source material but rather just ran with it.

Just this week a team of Wake Forest physicians revealed in their on-going study of 275 children with regressive autism and bowel disease that 70 of the 82 kids tested so far were positive for measles virus--of the vaccine strain--not the wild strain, in their respective guts. Read the team leader Dr. Stephen Walker's comments about the study here.

If all these writers would stop reporting Wakefield's study having "harmed children" and acknowledge his findings are being corroborated by other scientists then maybe parents could make a more informed decision about the MMR vaccine. Delay it? Single out the antigens? Skip it?

In fairness to these writers, many of them likely have guns to to their heads so the makers of vaccines will still spill advertisement dollars into their boss's pockets. It's difficult for some people to report the truth when it impacts their ability to accrue dinero.

Flu Vaccine Myths Ramping Up

With winter approaching flu vaccine myths will be rampant in the media. Mary Shedden used two standard myths in her article today appearing in the 4You section of the Tampa Tribune today. She wrote, with respect to last year's flu season, "about 12,000 Americans died of complications related to the H1N1 flu strain;" The chief medical officer for England
wrote that 2/3 of H1N1-related deaths were in people with sever underlying disease or an incapacitating prior illness. That changes the picture quite a bit. An accurate statement would have been, "about 12,000 Americans died on the heels of being positively tested the H1N1 flu strain; The majority of them had significant concomitant or prior medical issues and it's uncertain what impact the H1N1 infection had in their deaths." This however would be boring reading and not very newsworthy.

Shedden also wrote, with respect to this year's seasonal vaccine, "... early reports show it's keeping flu outbreaks at bay." How does she know? Who knows how much inoculum is in any given geographical region for a given time period. In the people afflicted how much inoculum were they exposed to? What was the condition of the immune systems in the people with the flu? Did they have any other viruses on board? Were they eating a ton of simple carbs? What was their 25-Hydroxyvitamin D level? An accurate report would have read, "early reports show it [flu vaccine] has been received by x # of Americans and flu outbreaks have been light." A true report such as that though is both a chatty way of saying nothing and boring reading. Expect reports to ramp up soon, something along the lines of, "get vaccinated today--don't kill your neighbor's children by not getting vaccinated." Now that's a great story. Harry Potter stuff.

Perhaps Shedden had a gun to her head by her editors. I don't know. You can be certain there won't be any retraction though. Science is mostly a new art form, not science.

When is a Penny Not a Penny?

From 1902 to 1958 the US penny contained 95% copper. Today a penny contains 2.5% copper. So the next time you go to the bank ask the teller to cash your check in wheat pennies. Unfortunately, paper currencies are headed for like vaporization. Or, one could make the case inflation has already bankrupted the US dollar. Local farming is headed for a boon in the next few years or decades.

Michelle Obama and bake sales

It seems public school bake sales are in jeopardy because the federal government wants to keep children healthy. So while the government forces its schools to serve soy protein isolate, aspartame, sucralose, monosodium glutamate, pesticides, hormones and who knows what else, brownies may get banned.

Wikileaks and Lost Opportunity

The federal government recently missed on a big opportunity with the escapades of the military little guy who was found to have downloaded world government secrets onto a CD labeled as Lady Gaga. Had he been discovered to have snuck it out in his underwear the government could have instituted mandatory enhanced pat downs and x-rays at all music stores... to keep us safe.

"It looks like an Eminem CD but it could be transcripts from the White House war room. Now drop your drawers."

"Here, in the mall?"

"Your pants are still on?"

"Sorry."

36,000 annual flu deaths?

The annual, media-inspired drumbeat of impending thousands of flu deaths will soon be in full swing. The death figure formerly bandied about used to be 36,000 annually but the CDC is downplaying that now because too many people caught on to the figure being a marketing ploy and not based on truth. Per the National Vital Statistics Reports (from the CDC) annual flu deaths are much, much lower. This document is never mentioned because its contents undercut its marketing goals.

If you look at page 18 of this edition you'll note there were 457 deaths caused by the flu in 2007 and 849 deaths in 2006. Prior years reveal similar figures. The death rate from pneumonia is much, much higher with annual deaths in the 50,000 range.

You are more likely to die from being struck by lightning while cashing a lotto ticket than you are from dying from the flu. Most flu deaths occur in the very elderly. That fact drives the risk down for the majority of people. To die from just the flu is rare nowadays, including in the unvaccinated population.

The media will not issue a correction about over-reporting flu deaths for years on end because it would embarrass storied journalists, politicians and pharmaceutical reps that have preceded them. It's easier to maintain the manipulation and position oneself for professional advancement.